| Within the military and scholarly literature, it is proposed that military members should exemplify selflessness in their actions and character, and this view is supported by the inclusion of selflessness as one of the publicly stated values of the American military services. However, Military Selflessness (MS), as I refer to it, is underdeveloped and inadequately analyzed as a concept. The literature fails to explore the justifications for MS, identify its limits, and describe what it actually requires of military members in terms of actions and character states. Additionally, the literature does not seriously consider possible objections to MS. In this study, I further develop the concept of MS to determine what it can justifiably require of military members and what limits it must adopt to remain a viable concept of service. To do this I consider how MS compares to conceptions of selflessness in other contexts and whether the military services, by promoting MS, are requiring military members to perform supererogatory actions. That is, are they making mandatory what should be optional? I also focus on whether adopting a selfless approach undermines the military member's humanity and moral agency, two common objections within the philosophical literature to demanding moral requirements. Addressing these concerns allows me to offer a developed account of MS that avoids undermining the member's humanity and moral agency, but that is still well suited to the demanding nature of the military role. Where I diverge from MS is its view of self-interest, which it equates to selfishness. I argue that promoting a view of military role occupation as self-fulfilling, rather than self-denying, would produce a more praiseworthy and appropriate concept of service. In recognition of this stronger link between self and service, I argue that "Committed Service" is a more appropriate name for the military's concept of service. In the last chapter I offer a framework for determining whether Committed Service can actually be implemented as a concept of service. |
